Judaism - Dialogue between religious and non-religious beliefs and attitudes - OCR

Buddhist presenter: How

Christian presenter: do different religions

Jewish presenter: view abortion?

Buddhist presenter: Hello, I'm Buddhist.

Christian presenter: I'm Christian,

Jewish presenter: and I'm Jewish.

Buddhist presenter: And we all believe that life, especially human life, is precious.

Christian presenter: Christians call this the sanctity of life,

Jewish presenter: which means it's holy and should always be protected. In Judaism, we call this pikuach nefesh, which means saving a soul.

Buddhist presenter: Abortion is legal in the UK.

Christian presenter: In specific circumstances which are set out in law.

Jewish presenter: But what do our religions say about it?

Buddhist presenter: Buddhism teaches that we live many lives in many bodies, but this life begins at conception, which is when a sperm fertilises an egg. The first of the Buddha's ‘five precepts’ says we should avoid taking life. So we try to live by the principle of ahimsa, which means ‘non-violence’ or ‘non-harming.’ And many Buddhists say this means abortion can't be allowed. However, some Buddhists believe that if a pregnancy is putting the life of a mother in danger, then an abortion is acceptable. This shows a Buddhist teaching called karuna, meaning compassion, which encourages us to reduce people’s suffering, if we can.

Christian presenter: In the Bible, the writer of Psalms 139 talks about God “seeing my unformed body in the womb.” So many Christians also believe that life begins at conception or soon after and should be protected. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that abortion is never allowed, no matter what the circumstances. Pope Paul VI wrote, all direct abortion are to be absolutely excluded, but in some cases, the Roman Catholic Church does support the principle of double effect. This is when, in order to do something good, something bad will also happen. For example, in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, when a fertilised egg grows outside the womb and puts the mother's life at risk, the church allows treatment to save the mother's life, even though it will result in the loss of the pregnancy. Protestant churches, like the Church of England, are also against abortion, but accept that there are reasons why it might be the best thing to do in some situations. It might be left to individual churches to give advice based on their own moral judgements.

Jewish presenter: An ancient collection of Jewish writings called the Talmud describes a foetus as ‘water’ for the first 40 days, and we take that to mean that it isn't a potential life until then. It isn't a life in its own right until birth. But we believe that a foetus is precious at all times because it's God's creation. So abortion should always be a last resort. Another book called the Mishnah says, “if a woman is having trouble giving birth, her life comes before the life of the child.” So if a mother's life is in danger, an abortion might be necessary to save her. But there are many other things to think about when deciding if abortion is an acceptable choice.

Buddhist presenter: Medical screening tests during pregnancy might show problems in the development of the foetus.

Christian presenter: The child might be born into extreme poverty or dangerous circumstances.

Jewish presenter: So religious believers might need to think about things that would affect quality of life.

Buddhist presenter: The Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said “I think abortion should be approved or disapproved, according to each circumstance.” This shows another Buddhist teaching called Metta, which means loving kindness, and we believe that an aborted embryos, Vijñāna, their consciousness, will pass on to another life.

Christian presenter: Many Protestant Christians, including the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Church would agree that abortion is always a difficult choice to make, but it might be the best course of action in certain circumstances. There aren't always simple answers.

Jewish presenter: Some Jews would also say that an abortion should be allowed if the mother's physical or mental health might seriously suffer, or if the baby is likely to be born with a serious health problem. But each situation needs to be judged very carefully.

So all of our religions believe in the sanctity of human life.

Christian presenter: The Roman Catholic Church opposes abortion, but many Protestant Christians, including the Church of England, would say there are situations when it might be understandable.

Jewish presenter: Which is also the teaching in Judaism. Every case is different.

Buddhist presenter: And all of our religions teach us that every decision must be made with compassion.